Flashes
by Detonator Stera
Summary: 50 Word Drabble Challenge. Max/Kat-centric. (Surprise!)


_Disclaimer: Max Steel, and associated characters, do not belong to me in any way, shape or form. There's a list of companies that this awesome show does belong to, but at this point I think they've changed hands so much, I'm not sure who it is. Anyway, I'm not on the list. Sad._

**Author's Note: **Once again, in the unending battle against Writer's Block, I have found myself another challenge. This one, which I actually finished (yay!) is a 50 Word Drabble Challenge. I think I was supposed to one write one sentence per word, but some of them scrambled away from me. Oh, well. And just to be clear, this is in no way a continuous story. Some of them are based on canon-verse, some are AU.

**50 Word Drabble Challenge**

**By:**

**Detonator Stera**

**Fruit**

"Pineapple flavored lip gloss?" Kat snatches the tube away from a stupidly grinning Max. "One: I catch you near my stuff again, you die. Two: You breathe a word of this to anyone, you _die_." She adds a short-armed punch just for good measure.

**Music**

Kat enjoys listening to music while she's working out. She especially likes when she's sparring with Max, and she can hit him on the beats.

**Experience**

Kat draws back, breath coming in unsteady heaves. "Sooo... have you ever done this before?" Max scowls, muttering something that sounds very much like "shut up" before pulling her back down.

**Game**

"You sure you're up for this, Kat? It's only been a few weeks since you cracked your ribs." Kat scoffs, tightening the straps on her roller blades. "Game on, McGrath."

**Brother**

Lounging in the TV station's waiting room, Kat picks up a magazine, thumbing through it lazily, until an article catches her eye. "Hey, Steel. According to this, we're twins, separated at birth." Across the room, Max chokes on his soda.

**Gasp**

Kat scrambles to the other end of the couch, gasping for breath, then turns and spits a vile curse at the grinning, soon to be dead idiot she just escaped. "Gee, Kat. I didn't know you were ticklish."

**Brush**

Max brushes a stray bit of hair away from Kat's sweaty brow. "Don't you dare die on me, Ryan. I'm not breaking in another partner." Kat's eyes creak open, and she glares as hard as she can manage. "Gimme a day to recover, and I'll break you, Steel."

**Shirt**

Josh holds out a hand. "Kat, give me back my shirt." Kat smirks, toying with the hem of the item in question. "Or what?" A playful smile. Josh steps closer, hand slipping under the hem of said shirt. "Or I'll take it." A challenging gleam enters those feline eyes. "Try it, McGrath."

**Love**

"Kat, I lo-" her fingers are on his lips, a sad, guarded look in her eyes. "I'm not ready for someone to say that to me yet."

**Stay**

At first, he had always thought Laura would stay. But she left. Then he thought Rachel would stay, but then she was gone. Now he waits for Kat to leave, but she seems intent on staying.

**Fall**

He's gripping the ledge, but the blood running down his arm is making the task harder with each passing second. His fingers slip. Her hands clamp around his wrist like iron. He's _not_ going to fall.

**Skin**

He'd never say it out loud, but Max is so very grateful to the genius who invented tank tops. Because Kat has _damn _fine arms.

**Scars**

Max has no scars. The Max Probes repair wounds far too quickly for any to form, and they fixed any he had from before. Kat has many scars, from a lifetime of risk-taking and proving herself. Max knows where each and every one is.

**Silver**

Kat shivers as Max nips at her ear, playing with the little silver earring she wears. "I think you should get an earring, too." "Not happening."

**Winter**

Winter used to just be a time of year to her; it just meant that she might have to wear a jacket when she went after bad guys. This was the first winter she had someone to curl up with in front of a blazing fire.

**Dreams**

Josh shoots up in bed with a short, panicked yell. Kat is already awake and sitting up, her hand on his sweating, trembling shoulder. "Josh..?" "My... my mom..." She pulls his head down to her shoulder, and doesn't know what to do when she feels wet running down the side of her neck.

**Cold**

"Well, the safety books weren't wrong. Sharing body heat _is _ a good way to avoid hypothermia." "Just keep an ear out for the rescue team."

**Paper**

The flight home is boring, so Max takes his life in his hands, makes a paper airplane from a mission report, and sends it at Kat's head. When it hits her square in the ear, she wonders if Max really is indestructible, and decides that shoving him out of the plane is an excellent way to find out.

**Headphones**

Kat shoots a poisonous glare over her shoulder, shifting one headphone behind her ear. "You touch my stereo dial again, Steel, you won't live to regret it." Max grins, and leans down to kiss the top of her head.

**Soft**

There isn't much on Kat that is soft. Arms, legs, attitude, all hard and tough. But her mouth is soft, and Max has first-hand knowledge of this.

**Father**

"My dad was part of N-Tek, until he... well, you know." Max leans back on his hands, studying the back of the N-Tek logo. Standing on the roof beside him, Kat looks up at the stars overhead. "My dad was one of the guys your dad chased." Max looks at her in surprise, but she won't meet his gaze.

**Kryptonite**

Kat crouches by Max's head as he comes to. "You know, you have something in common with Superman." Max sits up carefully, touching a ginger hand to the back of his head. "My super human strength?" Kat rises and strolls away. "One little, teeny thing, and you're down for the count," she finishes, nudging the small, spherical device that had generated the EMP blast.

**Drowning**

Her lungs are burning, and the straps on her safety harness won't unhook. She's out of bubbles, the world is going dark, and she's _pissed_ that this is how she's going to die. Then a hand, lighted by glowing green energy, clamps onto the harness buckle, and suddenly she's free, and being dragged towards the surface.

**Secret**

Kat will never admit it, but she gets a little tingle when she sees those warm, brown eyes crackle and turn bright, determined blue.

**Famous**

"Who the _hell_ thought it would be a good idea to be a _secret_ agent, and a _famous_ athlete?!"

**Truth**

Kat locks eyes with Max, laying her hand on his chest. "With the lives we lead, tomorrow is never a sure thing." He nods at this truth, and leans down to take her mouth with his.

**Pillow**

/whap/ "Hey! What was that for?" "For drinking the last of my orange juice. And putting the empty carton back in the fridge." /whap whap/

**Pain**

Stars burst behind his eyelids, and pain seared like fire through his chest. He looked down to see the blood blooming around the hilt of the blade, just below his chest plate. Dimly, he heard Kat yelling, and saw her blurred form lunge past him.

**Name**

"I'm not sure _I_ know who I am anymore. I'm afraid Max is... well, replacing Josh."

**Burn**

Kat rolls away, swearing, smelling burning flesh. _Her_ burning flesh. She ducks behind a stack of boxes for cover, and takes a moment to look at the damage. Her left forearm is an ugly, charred mess, and she swears again, yanking the pistol she carries but rarely uses out of her boot.

**Roses**

Kat scowls and knocks the offered bouquet away, sending a shower of roses flying. Josh looks stunned. "They're just flowers, Kat." "Do I look like a damn _girl_?!" Josh matches her scowl. "I suppose you'd rather get punched in the face on Valentine's Day, instead." "As a matter of fact..."

**Snow**

Kat throws a snowball at Max's head. Whump. Max retaliates, catching her in the shoulder. Whap. They take cover, and the war is on.

**Gay**

"If I was really _gay_," Kat snaps, eyes flashing, "do you really think I would do _this_?" And she yanks Josh into a full, wet, open-mouthed kiss, much to the delight of the gathered reporters.

**Beginning**

"Kat, you'll be working with Team Steel from now on." Kat's jaw drops. "_Hell_ no. I work solo. End of story." Jefferson eyes her in that mild way that Josh knows better than to argue with. "I think you two will really complement each other." Berto snickers into his hand as Max and Kat glare at each other.

**Blind**

"Kat?" She turns her head toward the sound of the voice, feeling the pull of the bandages across her face. "Tell me you got Psycho, or once I can see again, I'm putting _your_ eyes out."

**Necklace**

Kat fingers the pendant, the diamond flashing fire in the center. "Has it really been five years?" Max nods, and covers her hand with his. "Hard to believe, huh?" She smirks up at him. "I guess I'll keep you, even if you're annoying."

**Car**

Josh has always loved driving along the coast, feeling the sea breeze whipping through his hair. Now, he enjoys watching the fast breeze ruffle Kat's hair, as well.

**Punch**

"Had enough, Steel?" Kat demands, throwing a kick. Max dodges smoothly, and sweeps a leg at her balancing leg. She shifts, and her fist shoots out as Max straightens, catching him in the ear. "Say 'Uncle.'"

**Lullaby**

Josh hums a soothing tune, lightly rocking the fussing infant on his shoulder. A chuckle draws his attention to the doorway, where Kat leans. "Did we seriously breed?" she approaches, laying a hand on the baby's back. Josh snickers. "You tell me. You're the one who had the 12 hours of labor."

**Bite**

"Ow!" "What, can't take a little love bite, Steel?" "If Berto sees that, and has nightmares, it's your fault." "Oh, I'm gonna make _sure_ he sees it."

**Need**

For years, Kat needed nothing and no one but herself. Now, she'll reluctantly admit, under extreme torture, that maybe she needs Max and Berto. Because maybe she's found something she's always craved. A family.

**Home**

Kat has called a lot of places home. Her childhood home, more than a few abandoned buildings, a tiny apartment near N-Tek. Right now, home is the Team Steel van. And with the faint green glow from the transphasic generator lighting the room, Josh's slow breathing and steady heartbeat under her ear, and Berto's quiet snoring in the next tiny room over, this place feels the most like home.

**Call**

"Calm down, I can fix it." "I don't care if you're a heap big caveman with balls of steel and all that. Your computer is smoking and making a funny grinding noise. _Call Berto._"

**Question**

"Can I ask you a question?" "Will I have to hurt you after?" "Is 'Kat' short for 'Kaitlin?'" "..." /punch/ "Who told? I need to skin them and boil them in oil."

**Protective**

Kat lay on the floor, clutching her bleeding leg. Max crouched in front of her protectively, eyes on the guards forming a loose half circle around them.

**Lies**

Max looks up at the night sky. "I had to lie to Laura, a lot. Because of the probes, N-Tek, the secret agent stuff. All of it. I didn't want her to get hurt." He hesitates for a moment, then cautiously covers Kat's hand with his. Kat turns her hand over, and squeezes his fingers. "I can take care of my self." 

**Dance**

It was the N-Tek company party, and someone had, through coercion or threats, managed to stuff Kat into a dress. A very tight, very well-cut dress that drew the attention of a fair number of the single male population. Max, however, was the first to work up the courage to approach. "Dance with me?"

**City**

The lights twinkled all over Paris. Max took a moment to admire the view, then adjusted the straps on his jet pack, and jumped off the roof next to Kat. Duty calls.

**Care**

Kat scowls at the form on the bed, barely visible for all the wires and tubes. "_Damn_ you, Steel. You are _not_ allowed to make me care again, and then die on me." She fished his hand out of the tangle of wires, squeezed it hard enough to hurt. "So wake the hell up already."

**Time**

There's little else in the world that get Max and Kat fired up, than the race to beat the clock.

**Author's Note: **Well, that wasn't horrible to write, and I think I may have gotten some interesting potential ideas from that little exercise. I'd really like to work on _TSM: R _again, and yes, I do realize that writing Max/Kat stuff when _TSM:R_ is a Max/Rachel is kind of counter-productive. Boo. =)

-Det


End file.
